A CALL has been made by the Nadi Chamber of Commerce and Industry for police to activate its tourism unit in Nadi.
This follows numerous complaints of harassment by tourists in Nadi Town.
In a statement, the chamber said this demand by members had been sparked by numerous social media postings by disgruntled tourists who have had bad experiences in the town.
“With the presence of travel and tour guiding social media groups on popular handles like Facebook, tourists are not hesitating to share their bad experiences about Nadi Town on such platforms,” the chamber stated.
“In the latest such post on ‘Fiji Holiday – Information Group’ that has around 35,000 members on Facebook, a tourist is alleging that she was grabbed by the hand and forcefully told to enter a particular shop for handicraft and gift buying.
“A similar group named ‘Fiji Island Holidaying Discussion Group’ that has over 61,000 members on Facebook also carries numerous such posts and comments from visitors to our shores.”
Nadi Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Dr Ram Raju said such posts were a wake-up call for us and detrimental to the image of Nadi as a tourist town.
“Many tourists find it much convenient to share their grievances and bad experiences on social media rather than lodging an official police complaint as they do not wish to get entangled in the legal process which normally surpasses their time of stay in the country,” Dr Raju said.
He said relevant stakeholders needed to be proactive and take necessary steps in advance to avoid such incidents in the future.
“We need greater physical presence of police officers in the town and there needs to be regular scheduled patrols to serve as a deterrent for touts and business houses encouraging such practices.”
He said the chamber was in the process of seeking information and clarification from Tourism Fiji and Fiji Police Force on their stance and plans on this matter.
Meanwhile, Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Viliame Gavoka said they would look into the issue.
“Firstly, tourism is going very well,” Mr Gavoka said.
“And Nadi is really the mecca for tourism, if that is happening, we will make sure that whatever needs to be done will be done in terms of security of the tourists. I don’t think it is really a serious issue, there maybe one or two people over excited about selling their products but we will certainly look into it and put a stop to it.”
